Forever loyal
by Parasitic Death
Summary: It's that time of the year again, when the Ninetales will have a visit for its old dear friend.


**A/N:** Originally written in January of 2013. I wrote this in a hurry (which shows clearly from the end of the fic), but I kinda like the result anyway. The reason why I had to rush this a little bit was that I decided to start a project called Writer's Pokédex. It's my challenge to write something about every single Pokémon. I absolutely wanted to start this thing in January and because it was already the last day of the month when I wrote this, I didn't have much time to write.

And so, the challenge began with this little fic.

* * *

**Forever loyal**

The pale and silvery full moon had once again conquered its place in the vast, cloudless sky. Along with the weakly sparkling stars, its light shone upon the world below, making it a little easier for the wanderers of the night to go on their journey. Through the dark woods a certain creature was passing by, silently as a ghost, having a determined look in its red eyes. Every time when the beams of moon's pale light managed to get through the branches of the trees and touch the foxy creature's magnificent golden fur, it was shimmering so beautifully that even the glorious Luna was nothing in compared to it. That was quite an achievement, since the moon had been praised and interested people ever since the beginning of the civilization. However, something like that didn't mean anything to the creature. At the moment, only one thing was in its mind.

Swiftly but gracefully, having a little bit of something majestic in each step, the lone Ninetales travelled across the forest, heading towards the human settlement. Not too close of them, though, just to the graveyard, which had some distant from everything else around there. Ninetales wanted to avoid of being seen, so it chose to come at night, when everyone was asleep, seeing some nice dreams, and resting their bodies for a new day. The creature didn't wish for any disturbance, because this day meant a lot for it.

Year after year, the Ninetales had followed its tradition to visit that specific graveyard, always at the same exact day, during the night time. Now, it had continued this habit once again.

Not encountering any other Pokémon along the way to the graveyard from the border of the woods, Ninetales were able to sneak close to the cemetery without any interruption. Staying in the shadows, it slowed its pace and proceeded carefully forward. When it reached the open gate of the fenced area, it stopped and looked around cautiously. There was no one nearby. So, the fox Pokémon entered the cemetery.

Walking through the final resting place of both people and Pokémon, Ninetales was looking for a certain grave. At a night like this, in an open area like the cemetery, the moon's light could dance around freely, incontinently. As it brushed the creature's golden fur, it made the Ninetales look like some kind of magnificent guardian spirit of the graves that was patrolling in the area.

After passing the lines of many tombstones, some older, some newer, Ninetales found what it was seeking for. It sat down in front of the grave which was in good condition. There was even some fresh bouquet resting on it. It seemed that the living relatives still cared about this deceased man. That fact actually made the Pokémon happy; to think that people still remembered him, even after twenty years. He just didn't deserve to be forgotten. Even though he was unknown to many, to those who were familiar with him, he had been a great part of their life. He had been that to the lone Ninetales as well.

Yes… Ninetales had known this man very well. In fact, he had been its trainer. They had travelled around the world together, along with some other Pokémons. So many things they had seen and experienced, on their shared journey. The happy moments, the sad moments… Victories and defeats… Good times and hard times… All that they had gone through, together. Now the memories that were forged during that adventurous journey were all that still remained. They were the fox Pokémon's most precious treasure.

When the man had grown too old to travel around the world anymore, they had settled down in a small town. Those had been peaceful, relaxing days. Too bad it didn't last forever. Human's lifespan was just a small part of all those years the Ninetales would live.

The farewells came sooner than neither of them had wanted.

When the old man had passed away, Ninetales had left the town, not wanting to stay in there without its beloved trainer and friend. But, even though it had become a free wanderer since that day, it still was loyal to its trainer. So, it had been coming back to the town, in order to honor the memory of its old, dear friend.

The Pokémon shifted its gaze at the dark starry sky. Maybe the old man was somewhere in there, amongst the stars, looking down on earth and keeping a watchful eye on his Ninetales. For a couple of minutes the creature were staring at the sky, but then returned its gaze to the gray tombstone.

Here it would stay the whole night, sitting still in front of the grave of its trainer, not moving away until the dawn would appear on the horizon and banish the darkness. Then it would leave before anyone woke up and disappear from that region, not coming back until next year.

But for now, the Ninetales would loyally stay beside its friend's last resting place.


End file.
